Tag: earlier

The partial U.S. government shutdown will cost Delta Air Lines about $25 million in revenue this month as fewer government contractors and employees are traveling, the airline’s, CEO Ed Bastian, said Tuesday. The shutdown is the longest ever and has left some 800,000 government employees furloughed or working without pay. Delta, which reported fourth-quarter earnings earlier Tuesday, said it expects the shutdown, along with currency headwinds and a later Easter this year, to dent its revenue in

The partial U.S. government shutdown will cost Delta Air Lines about $25 million in revenue this month as fewer government contractors and employees are traveling, the airline’s, CEO Ed Bastian, said Tuesday.

The shutdown is the longest ever and has left some 800,000 government employees furloughed or working without pay.

Delta, which reported fourth-quarter earnings earlier Tuesday, said it expects the shutdown, along with currency headwinds and a later Easter this year, to dent its revenue in the first three months of the year. Unit revenue, which measures its revenue for every seat it flies a mile, will be flat to up 2 percent in the three months ending March 31, compared with the year-earlier period. Delta posted $10.74 billion in revenue for the last three months of the year, up 5 percent from a year earlier.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index extended gains to rise about 2 percent, as of its final hour of trade. The positive moves in China came after the country’s commerce ministry announced that vice ministerial level trade talks with the U.S. would be held on Jan. 7-8. South Korea’s Kospi also recovered from its earlier losses to close 0.83 percent higher at 2,010.25. Australia stocks fell as the benchmark ASX 200 slipped 0.25 percent to close at 5,619.4. National Australia Bank, on the other hand, recov

Asia markets were mostly higher on Friday as developments on the U.S.-China trade front overcame fears of a slowdown in the global economy which resulted in sharp declines in stocks stateside overnight.

The Chinese mainland markets rebounded strongly after an earlier slip. The Shanghai composite bounced about 2.05 percent higher to close at around 2,514.87 and the Shenzhen composite jumped 2.658 percent to finish its trading day at approximately 1,279.49. The Shenzhen component rose 2.756 percent to close at about 7,284.84.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index extended gains to rise about 2 percent, as of its final hour of trade.

The positive moves in China came after the country’s commerce ministry announced that vice ministerial level trade talks with the U.S. would be held on Jan. 7-8.

The development on the trade front was also bolstered by positive data from China’s services sector. The Caixin/Markit services purchasing managers’ index jumped to a six-month high of 53.9 in December, rising from 53.8 in the previous month. The figure was significantly higher than the 50.0 mark which separates expansion from contraction.

The data came days after China reported a decline in its factory activity for December.

South Korea’s Kospi also recovered from its earlier losses to close 0.83 percent higher at 2,010.25.

Japan’s Nikkei 225, however, dropped 2.26 percent to close at 19,561.96 while the Topix index fell 1.53 percent to finish the trading day at 1,471.16, with most sectors seeing declines. Shares of Japanese conglomerate Softbank fell 2.89 percent and Fast Retailing, the company behind the Uniqlo chain of apparel stores, dropped 5.45 percent. Stocks in Japan were closed on Wednesday and Thursday for holidays.

Australia stocks fell as the benchmark ASX 200 slipped 0.25 percent to close at 5,619.4.

The heavily-weighted financial subindex declined 0.34 percent as shares of the country’s so-called Big Four banks were mixed; Australia and New Zealand Banking Group slipped 0.37 percent and Westpac saw losses of 0.04 percent. National Australia Bank, on the other hand, recovered from earlier losses to rise 0.21 percent while Commonwealth Bank of Australia was slightly higher.

“For the brave, now would be a good time to be looking at … some of these markets,” Stefan Hofer, a managing director and chief investment strategist at LGT Bank Asia, told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Friday. Hofer added that liquidity and trading volumes are “still quite thin at the outset of the year.”

“Fundamentally speaking, I think if we do have a trade deal with China, let’s say, by the middle of 2019, then Asia … will be the place to be in terms of equities,” he said, adding that the ongoing U.S.-China trade war has been “the major overhang that has been a problem” for Asian markets.

South Korea’s Kospi fell 0.81 percent to finish its trading day at 1,993.70 as shares of Apple suppliers Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix dropped 2.97 percent and 4.79 percent, respectively. Over in the Greater China region, the Hang Seng index gave up earlier gains to slip 0.22 percent, as of its final hour of trade. The mainland Chinese markets, watched in relation to Beijing’s ongoing tariff fight with Washington, reversed its earlier gains. The Shanghai composite closed largely flat at about

Major stocks indexes in Asia were mostly lower on Thursday as U.S. futures pointed to another volatile session for Wall Street after Apple lowered guidance for first quarter and warned of weaker sales in China.

South Korea’s Kospi fell 0.81 percent to finish its trading day at 1,993.70 as shares of Apple suppliers Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix dropped 2.97 percent and 4.79 percent, respectively.

Over in the Greater China region, the Hang Seng index gave up earlier gains to slip 0.22 percent, as of its final hour of trade.

The mainland Chinese markets, watched in relation to Beijing’s ongoing tariff fight with Washington, reversed its earlier gains. The Shanghai composite closed largely flat at about 2,464.36 while the tech-heavy Shenzhen composite fell 0.798 percent to finish its trading day at around 1,246.37. The Shenzhen component lost 0.837 percent to close at about 7,089.44.

The ASX 200 in Australia, however, rose 1.36 percent to close at 5,633.40, with all the sectors seeing gains. The energy subindex rose 2.97 percent as shares of oil-related companies saw gains on the back of Wednesday’s strong rally in oil prices. Santos jumped 3.98 percent, Oil Search rose 2.59 percent and Woodside Petroleum advanced 3.44 percent.

“Asian markets may attempt to recover some of yesterday’s losses but are likely to remain cautious for now and await further cues on the US,” said OCBC Treasury Research in a morning note.

A Canadian citizen who was detained in China this month has returned to Canada after being released from custody, a Canadian government spokesman said on Friday. The spokesman did not specify when the Canadian was released or returned to Canada. Earlier in the day, broadcaster CBC identified the citizen as Canadian teacher Sarah McIver. On Saturday, a Chinese court will hear an appeal in the case of a Canadian citizen held on drugs charges, that could further test the tense relations between the

A Canadian citizen who was detained in China this month has returned to Canada after being released from custody, a Canadian government spokesman said on Friday.

The spokesman did not specify when the Canadian was released or returned to Canada. Earlier in the day, broadcaster CBC identified the citizen as Canadian teacher Sarah McIver.

China’s Foreign Ministry said this month that McIver was undergoing “administrative punishment” for working illegally.

McIver was the third Canadian to be detained by China following the Dec. 1 arrest in Vancouver of Meng Wanzhou, chief financial officer of the Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei Technologies, but a Canadian official said there was no reason to believe that the woman’s detention was linked to the earlier arrests.

Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland did not mention the woman in calling for the release of the other two Canadians last week.

China’s Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

On Saturday, a Chinese court will hear an appeal in the case of a Canadian citizen held on drugs charges, that could further test the tense relations between the two countries.

The high court in the city of Dalian in the northeastern province of Liaoning will hear the appeal of Robert Lloyd Schellenberg from 2 p.m. (0600 GMT), it said in a statement this week.

A Dalian government news portal said Schellenberg was a Canadian and that this was an appeal hearing after he was found by an earlier ruling to have smuggled “an enormous amount of drugs” into China.

Canada’s government said this week it had been following the case for several years and providing consular assistance, but could provide no other details, citing privacy concerns.

Drugs offences are usually punished severely in China.

China executed a Briton caught smuggling heroin in 2009, prompting a British outcry over what it said was the lack of any mental health assessment.

Energy ministers had been talking up progress toward the permanent arrangement as recently as their meeting in Vienna earlier this month. That’s because it requires additional bureaucratic brouhaha in relation to financing, cartel, with the U.S. side,” Novak told reporters, according to Reuters. The U.S. penalties in question are spelled out in legislation known as NOPEC, or the No Oil Producing and Exporting Cartels Act. The legislation was first introduced in 2007, during a time of rising crud

Energy ministers had been talking up progress toward the permanent arrangement as recently as their meeting in Vienna earlier this month.

But on Friday, Novak said the prospects for that plan now look dim, Reuters reported. He said it would create too much red tape and expose the non-OPEC members of the alliance to potential sanctions from the U.S. government.

“There is a consensus that there will be no such organization. That’s because it requires additional bureaucratic brouhaha in relation to financing, cartel, with the U.S. side,” Novak told reporters, according to Reuters.

The U.S. penalties in question are spelled out in legislation known as NOPEC, or the No Oil Producing and Exporting Cartels Act. The bill would authorize the Justice Department to sue groups like OPEC that are deemed cartels for price fixing and antitrust violations, stripping countries of sovereign immunity protections currently built into U.S. law.

The legislation was first introduced in 2007, during a time of rising crude prices and concerns that the world’s oil reserves would run dry. It was revived earlier this year in both chambers of Congress by bipartisan groups of lawmakers.

If giving to charity is still on your agenda for 2018, there’s still a window of time for you to make that year-end donation. Of note, new tax rules have made it more difficult to get a deduction for your donations. That is because the standard deduction is so much higher — about $12,000 for individuals and $24,000 for married couples who file jointly. must push you over the standard deduction in order for you to itemize on your tax return. There are rules you need to pay attention to, such as w

If giving to charity is still on your agenda for 2018, there’s still a window of time for you to make that year-end donation.

However, if you make a mistake, your gift might not count for the 2018 tax year.

Of note, new tax rules have made it more difficult to get a deduction for your donations. That is because the standard deduction is so much higher — about $12,000 for individuals and $24,000 for married couples who file jointly.

And your donations (plus any other deductions such as mortgage interest, etc.) must push you over the standard deduction in order for you to itemize on your tax return.

A congressional report earlier this year estimated that just 18 million households would itemize this year, down from 46.5 million in 2017.

If you’re one of them, you need to get started now.

“We’re running out of time, so you need to do it earlier rather than later,” said Michael Duffy, director of the Strategic Wealth Advisory Group at Merrill Lynch Private Banking and Investment Group.

There are rules you need to pay attention to, such as whether you’re giving to charity or to friends and family, and how you’re giving, such as cash, securities or tangible property.

Stocks in Asia were broadly lower on Friday, with Japanese equities leading the fall. Shares of Japanese banks fell on the back of the Bank of Japan’s decision on Thursday to keep interest rate targets unchanged. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group shed 2.22 percent while Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group dropped 2.21 percent. Japanese banks have suffered as a result of the central bank’s loose monetary policy, which has had the side effect of impacting the revenues of the country’s lenders. In Austral

Stocks in Asia were broadly lower on Friday, with Japanese equities leading the fall.

The Nikkei 225 fell 1.11 percent on the day as it closed at 20,166.19, while the Topix index declined by 1.91 percent to finish its trading week at 1,488.19. The benchmark Nikkei 225 dropped more than 2.5 percent in the previous trading session.

Shares of Japanese banks fell on the back of the Bank of Japan’s decision on Thursday to keep interest rate targets unchanged. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group shed 2.22 percent while Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group dropped 2.21 percent. Japanese banks have suffered as a result of the central bank’s loose monetary policy, which has had the side effect of impacting the revenues of the country’s lenders.

Over in South Korea, the Kospi recovered from earlier losses to close slightly higher at 2,061.49 — up 0.07 percent.

In Australia, the ASX 200 lost its earlier gains to close 0.69 percent lower at 5,467.6, with most sectors slipping. Shares of the country’s so-called Big Four banks declined, with Australia and New Zealand Banking Group, Westpac and National Australia Bank all seeing declines of at least 1 percent.

OPEC is reportedly planning to release a table detailing voluntary supply cut quotas among its members and allies, Reuters reported Thursday, as the influential oil cartel steps up its efforts to put a halt to one of the biggest oil price falls in years. That is higher than the initially discussed 2.5 percent discussed earlier this month. “In the interests of openness and transparency, and to support market sentiment and confidence, it is vital to make these production adjustments publicly avail

OPEC is reportedly planning to release a table detailing voluntary supply cut quotas among its members and allies, Reuters reported Thursday, as the influential oil cartel steps up its efforts to put a halt to one of the biggest oil price falls in years.

OPEC Secretary General Mohammad Barkindo commended Saudi Arabia on Thursday, according to a letter seen by Reuters, saying the de facto leader of the group was going above and beyond the output deal agreed earlier this month.

Barkindo said to reach the proposed cut of 1.2 million barrels per day (bpd), the effective reduction for member countries would need to be 3.02 percent. That is higher than the initially discussed 2.5 percent discussed earlier this month.

“In the interests of openness and transparency, and to support market sentiment and confidence, it is vital to make these production adjustments publicly available,” Barindo reportedly told OPEC members in the letter.

“I would urge Your Excellencies to kindly make positive announcements reinstating your countries’ commitment to implementing the agreed decisions. This is also vital to underpin trust in our decisions and to buttress ourselves from any naysayers who may doubt our commitment.”

Indonesia posted its widest monthly trade deficit in over five years in November as exports, especially that of palm oil and pulp, slumped, data from the statistics bureau showed on Monday. The deficit in November was $2.05 billion, larger than October’s revised deficit of $1.77 billion and the biggest trade gap since July 2013, according to Refinitiv data. The rupiah weakened slightly after the trade data to 14,620 a dollar at 0545 GMT, from 14,600 before the announcement. Fakhrul Fulvian, econ

Indonesia posted its widest monthly trade deficit in over five years in November as exports, especially that of palm oil and pulp, slumped, data from the statistics bureau showed on Monday.

The deficit in November was $2.05 billion, larger than October’s revised deficit of $1.77 billion and the biggest trade gap since July 2013, according to Refinitiv data. A Reuters poll had expected a deficit of $830 million.

The rupiah weakened slightly after the trade data to 14,620 a dollar at 0545 GMT, from 14,600 before the announcement.

Exports surprisingly fell 3.28 percent in November from a year earlier to $14.83 billion, the worst monthly performance since June 2017. The poll’s median was for a 3.95 percent increase for exports.

A decline in overseas sales of a range of products, such as palm oil, jewellery, pulp and paper and crude oil, was the main reason for the drop, Suhariyanto, the statistics bureau head said in a news conference.

Export revenues from vegetable oils, including palm and coconut oil, fell nearly 19 percent in November from a year earlier due to weak prices, he said.

November imports stood at $16.88 billion, up 11.68 percent from a year earlier, topping the poll’s 10.50 percent estimate, but down from the nearly 24 percent growth in October.

Southeast Asia’s largest economy has been struggling to contain imports in recent months. Some measures, including higher tariffs, have been imposed to curb imports.

Authorities have also sped up negotiations for free trade deals in order to gain better access for exports, in a bid to reduce the trade gap and support the rupiah.

Bank Indonesia has also hiked interest rates six times since May to try to attract portfolio investment needed to fund the widening current account deficit.

Fakhrul Fulvian, economist at Trimegah Sekuritas, said the worse-than-expected trade deficit would “lower the expectation of improving current account balance” in the fourth quarter.

But, he argued, BI would not have to raise rates again because it already did in November.

Maybank Indonesia economist Myrdal Gunarto agreed.

“The movement of the exchange rate in domestic market remains manageable and the trade deficit was supported by returning foreign inflows,” Gunarto said. “With that, we project BI will still maintain its policy interest rate at the current level.”

China reported far weaker than expected November exports and imports, showing slower global and domestic demand and raising the possibility authorities will take more measures to keep the country’s growth rate from slipping too much. Analysts say the export data showed that the “front-loading” impact as firms rushed out shipments to beat planned U.S. tariff hikes faded, and that export growth is likely to slow further as demand cools. The customs data showed that annual growth for exports to all

China reported far weaker than expected November exports and imports, showing slower global and domestic demand and raising the possibility authorities will take more measures to keep the country’s growth rate from slipping too much.

November exports only rose 5.4 percent from a year earlier, Chinese customs data showed on Saturday, the weakest performance since a 3 percent contraction in March, and well short of the 10 percent forecast in a Reuters poll.

Analysts say the export data showed that the “front-loading” impact as firms rushed out shipments to beat planned U.S. tariff hikes faded, and that export growth is likely to slow further as demand cools.

The customs data showed that annual growth for exports to all of China’s major partners slowed significantly. Exports to the United States rose 9.8 percent in November from a year earlier, compared with 13.2 percent in October.

To the European Union, shipments increased 6.0 percent, compared with 14.6 percent in October. Exports to South Korea fell from a year earlier, while in October they rose 7.7 percent.